De Mortius Nil Nisi Bonum
by coffeescissorsluver
Summary: Eren was content with his life, but every so often, particularly after waking up drenched in sweat in fear of monsters that no longer existed; he wondered what it would be like to know someone who remembered, someone who understood. Then his former Corporal, Levi Ackerman, walked into his Calculus room.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! I'm going crazy typing up everything I've written in the past few months now that school is done and I finally have time, if you're waiting for any of my other updates, please be patient a bit longer! Anyway, enjoy the story and don't forget to tell me what you think. :)**

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Throughout Eren's current life he's made an effort to be selfless; to him, it seemed pointless to wish for things he didn't have when he was blessed to have already been given so much. He was content with his life, but every so often, particularly after waking up drenched in sweat in fear of monsters that no longer existed; he wondered what it would be like to know someone who remembered, someone who understood.

So seeing his former Corporal, Levi Ackerman, walk into the front of his Calculus room floored the brunette. He was younger now—much younger—but his eyes held the pain and experience of many more years than his physical makeup, as well as his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude. He was dressed in loose fitting clothes of dull colors, a grey jacket, a soft red t-shirt, and a pair of faded blue jeans. He looked a bit goofy with his backpack turtling his small figure—not that Eren would dare tell him that. The raven stood in the front of the room with Eren's calculus teacher as she waited for the rest of the class to take their seats.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is Levi Church, he is new to the area so I expect you will all make him feel welcome," Mrs. Parker introduced Levi as he scanned the room with a bored expression, "Levi there is a seat available next to Eren for you, Eren would you raise your hand please?"

As instructed, Eren raised his hand. Levi's eyes met the brunettes and Eren searched for any indication that the other remembered, that he understood, that maybe Eren was not alone, however no such indication was granted and the brunette deflated a bit. Levi calmly walked down the narrow isle between the rows of desks and took his seat beside Eren in the back of the room. He removed a pencil and a black spiral notebook from his bag and set them quietly on the desk.

Mrs. Parker began her lesson on the determinant of a square matrix and Eren tried to pay attention—really, he did—but his mind wandered elsewhere as he stared at the side of Levi's face as the raven frivolously took notes on the lecture. The brunette was still trying to determine if there was any chance that his formal Corporal remembered being just that, if he remembered his old squad, or Squad Leader Hanji, or Commander Erwin, or maybe even Eren. But maybe he really didn't remember, just like Eren's parents, who didn't remember a thing.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Levi's harsh whisper pulled Eren out of his head and he noticed the raven had turned his head to look straight at him.

"Huh?" Was the brunette's intelligent response, "Wha-, oh, sorry, uh I was just lost in thought I guess, sorry."

"Whatever," he shrugged and looked down at his notebook to work on the problem Mrs. Parker had written on the board.

"So how old are you?" Eren blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Levi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, you just seem young and I was trying to make conversation, but I wasn't sure what to ask you so I figured I would ask your age since I already know your name," Eren rambled nervously, face flushed slightly with embarrassment.

The raven stared at him for a few moments, blinking slowly, before turning his attention back down at the problem in his notebook, Eren sighed cursing himself for being so stupid, who just asks people's ages out of the blue? No one. Because it's weird.

"I'm sixteen," Levi mumbled, "if you laugh I swear I will shove my foot up your ass with so much force you won't be able to shit for a week brat."

 _Brat._ Levi called him _brat_. Eren's heart fluttered happily as his face broke out into a blinding grin, "I'm hardly a brat, I'm older than you, and I'll be eighteen in a few months, so why don't we stick to first names. Besides it'd be weird if an upperclassman went around calling a sixteen year old 'sir', don't you think?"

Levi's hand froze and his muscles tensed before he relaxed and allowed his mouth to twitch into a small, almost pleased, smirk before continuing the problem once more, "I suppose it would be," he paused, " _Eren_."

The period went on smoothly, the two didn't say anything else to each other, but they did glance over at the other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Their eyes met once and Eren had flushed awkwardly and shoved his face into his arms on the desk for the remainder of the period. Levi smirked at this reaction and continued on with his class work until the period ended.

"Meet me in the front of the parking lot at the end of the day?" Eren asked as the bell rang, "I'd like to catch up."

Levi hesitated and stared up at Eren with questioning eyes, then turned around to exit the classroom.

"Fine," he called over his shoulder before disappearing into the crowded hallway. The brunette watched the empty doorway with a relieved smile, amused with the raven's complacent behavior; he had no doubts that this was his corporal.

* * *

Eren stood leaning against the wall outside the school in front of the parking lot as the bell signaling the school day's end rang through the school. Clusters of students piled out of the doors at the schools entrance, some greeted the brunette when they saw him and walked to their cars or buses.

"Jaeger," Levi appeared at Eren's side with his arms crossed, surprising the teen despite the fact that Eren was looking for him in the crowd.

"Hey," he greeted the raven, "Come on, we're going to get coffee."

Then remembered just who he was talking to and stopped walking to quickly amend his previous statement, "I mean or tea… if you prefer, I just thought since its cold we should…"

Levi nodded, cutting off the impending nervous rambling that was rather characteristic of the upperclassman, and followed Eren through the parking lot to a black Camry.

"Uh, my dad sold me his car; he wanted a new one or something so he used me getting my license as an excuse. I used to walk to school, I don't live that far from here," Eren explained.

Levi climbed into the passenger seat and threw his bag into the back, grunting in response.

The car ride was silent and kind of awkward. Levi and Eren hadn't exactly been friends in their past life. They had still cared for and protected each other, sure, but they hadn't really known much about the other—there hadn't been time for that, and neither had thought it necessary; however, Eren had excelled at reading his superior after working with him for many years, so towards the end of their lives, their relationship was more comfortable, despite their lack of closeness. They had respected each other and fought with each other in a way humanity had never seen; they had worked off of each other—like a well-practiced dance that only they knew the steps to.

Eren glanced over at his former corporal, who was leaning against the car door and staring out the window with one cheek resting on the glass as he watched the world pass by.

"I'll never get used to modern transportation," he mumbled, not really caring if Eren heard or not, "after years of horseback or fucking flying attached to some bungee cords with a million straps digging scars into my skin, cars and buses seem too easy, too comfortable."

Eren studied the raven's expression before turning his head back to the road, grunting softly in response. He had never compared the two, for him, the past had always been separate from the present; he had never had a reason to compare the two—other than to calm himself down after he woke up from a nightmare.

Eren pulled into a small shopping center with a small coffee shop that was run by a local owner. Eren parked and led Levi into the small shop—it was warm inside and relaxing with its dim lighting and warm color scheme. The brunette walked up to a small counter in the back of the shop to order, feeling nervous and awkward around the younger teen that had once been his cold and ever-intimidating superior.

"Welcome, what can I get for you two?" A friendly blonde asked them from behind the counter.

"I'll have a cappuccino and," Eren glanced over his shoulder at Levi, who stared back at him expectantly, "an Assam tea, steeped for at least three minutes, with a teaspoon of whole milk, and two teaspoons of wildflower honey, if you have it, please."

"We have it, no worries," the blonde assured him with a smile when she finished jotting down the instructions Eren gave her, "that'll be $6.95."

He handed her a twenty and put the change in the decorated tip jar, the girl smiled gratefully, "you two can go find your seats, and your drinks will be brought out to you as soon as they're done."

Levi and Eren sat down at a booth in the back corner of the shop. Eren bit his lip nervously and Levi fidgeted slightly in his seat, glaring down at the tabletop. They sat in awkward silence, unsure where to start or what to say, until their drinks were set in front of them.

"So this is awkward," Eren finally said, "sorry, I guess I'm not really sure how to act around you."

"I don't know how to act around you either," Levi responded sounding surprisingly defensive, with a miniscule pout on his face, making him look even younger, "I'm not your Corporal anymore, I'm just some sixteen-year-old kid in your calc class."

Eren rolled his eyes at the younger teen, beginning to relax; "now we both know that isn't true."

The raven shrugged and looked down, sipping his tea slowly.

"When I said I wanted to catch up, I really meant it, that is, if you're willing to share. I have a bunch of questions but you don't have to answer them if you don't want to, I know we weren't technically _friends_ before but I think we could be now, uh, if you want, that is, I mean, I'd like to be" Eren said.

"Yeah, sure, ask away, I don't care" Levi replied with a shrug looking Eren straight in the eye.

"Do you know anyone else? From the past, that remembers," he clarified.

He nodded and pursed his lips, "My friends from… the underground are my current adoptive parents, they remember everything, and their names are Isabel and Farlan Church."

"So they were married and adopted you, what about your biological parents?" The brunette asked ignoring how clearly unsure Levi was about sharing the fact that he had lived in the underground.

"They died in a car accident when I was eleven," Levi responded, "and no, Izzy and Farlan's relationship is strictly platonic, they're like brother and sister, they only got married legally after they found me so they would have less trouble adopting me."

"Wow," Eren whispered, "So, um, the underground huh? I mean Petra hinted that you were some kind of thug but the underground is… it hadn't ever crossed my mind."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly brag about it," Levi mumbled and shifted in his seat. The raven took another sip of his tea, grasping the teacup by the top rim, giving Eren flashbacks of an elder, stonier face doing the same thing in a dim, candlelit room.

"What about you? Where's you fan club?" Levi countered, changing the subject.

The brunette teen's lips curled into a small, melancholic half-smile as he rubbed the back of his neck, "ah, I'm not sure, I haven't found them. Or anyone for that matter, I mean my parents, but they don't remember a thing so I don't think they count."

Levi's eyes widened, then furrowed into an almost angry expression, "No one?"

Eren shook his head and sipped at his warm coffee drink.

"Eren," Levi whispered with his icy blue eyes now tinted with concern, "How did you know you weren't batshit crazy with all those fucking nightmares, or flashbacks, or memories, or whatever you call them?"

"Honestly? I didn't. Not until I met you," the older teen smiled shyly at Levi, "and the nightmares got easier to deal with as I became accustomed to them; at least now I wake up in world where I'm safe and have many blessings. There are no monsters roaming the earth eating people alive or walls to keep humanity living like livestock, so it's easy to remind myself that that was the past, that I'm safe now, that everyone's safe now."

Levi leaned back in his seat and put on a very serious expression, which only looked amusing on the young face, "You're not the Eren I knew, are you? You're too… content, too tranquil. My Eren was an angry little shit."

 _My Eren._ Those words didn't escape Eren's notice and warmth rippled through him with a sense of belonging, "Yeah, well, I do yoga now," he jested, "Namaste."

"Brat," Levi chuckled.

Eren held a content smile on his face as his took the last sip of his cappuccino, the foam getting stuck to his upper lip like a child with a milk-mustache. He set his mug down and made a show of licking the foam of his face with his tongue.

"That's fucking disgusting; didn't your mother teach you any manners?" Levi grimaced, setting down his own finished cup.

"Ah, she tried her hardest, however her efforts were in vain, manners were not and never will be my forte," Eren replied.

"I have to get home before Isabel shits herself worrying over me," Levi said standing up and tossing his backpack over his shoulder, Eren following in suit.

"Alright, where do you live? Ill give you a ride," the brunette held the door open for Levi to walk through on their way out of the store.

"No, its fine, I want to walk, get a better layout of the town," Levi said.

"If you sure," Eren questioned warily.

"I am," was Levi's resolute response.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow Levi," Eren smiled.

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 **Sorry it was a bit short, I don't know when the next chapter will be but I'm halfway through writing it so relatively soon. Thank you for reading! 3**

 **~mollie**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all and welcome back. Here's another update I hope you enjoy, review and let me know what you think!**

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After their initial coffee trip, Levi quickly became a part of Eren's everyday life. Throughout the past four months they had begun walking together in the bustling hallways of their school, drank an innumerable amount of coffee (and tea) together, and spent most of their free time talking or studying together. Sometimes they would stay up into all hours of the morning talking over the phone, discussing anything and everything. Levi greatly reminded Eren of the corporal he still held near and dear to his heart: the way he held his cups, the fact that he constantly picked up after Eren, his shit sense of humor, but Eren noticed that they differed greatly as well. Eren couldn't see himself having the close relationship he has with Levi now, back then with his corporal, the corporal had seen and experience too much to allow Eren to get close to him, but this Levi was more at peace with his past and he also wanted to be as close to Eren as Eren wanted to be to him. Levi let himself go around the goofy brunette, he dropped the cold look of indifference and allowed small smiles to surface, he also loved to laugh, so Eren had made it his personal goal to make Levi laugh at least once a day, every day, for the rest of his life—because Eren swore Levi's laughter lit up the whole God damn room.

Despite all this, Levi still had yet to meet Eren parents and vice versa. Eren wanted to introduce Levi to his parents, but he was nervous for Levi to meet Grisha for some reason that he couldn't exactly figure out. Over the past few months Levi and Eren had become dependent on each other, they comforted each other and became each other's rock— especially when nightmares or none-to-pleasant memories surfaced— 2 A.M. calls were both acceptable and welcomed in their relationship. Eren learned a lot about the life Levi had had in the Underground with Farlan and Isabel, as well as the disaster that had taken their lives, in return, Eren confided in Levi with his fears and looming feelings of self-hatred that came from his past life. Now that he knew all of this, Levi wasn't Grisha's biggest fan, even if he had no recollection of turning his son into a monster.

School had let out for winter break four days ago, Christmas had passed, and Eren still had not seen Levi. They had been texting and facetiming but after seeing each other in person almost every day for months, Eren was beginning to develop some minor abandonment issues, and he was upset that he still hadn't given Levi his birthday present.

 **Incoming Message:**

 **Levi**

 **I'm bored.**

Eren smiled at the screen, no 'hello' just a statement, it was very characteristic of the raven. Eren decided he'd had enough moping around and texted him back.

 **Message Sent:**

 **Levi**

 **Be ready in 10 minutes, you're coming over for the rest of the day**

 **Incoming Message:**

 **Levi**

 **K.**

Eren grabbed the lanyard that held his keys off of his dresser and a worn varsity jacket and made his way downstairs. He turned at the bottom of the stairs and walked into the kitchen where ingredients and bowls littered the granite countertops and his mother, whom Eren now dwarfed, was enthusiastically backing away dressed in now-filthy jeans and a frilly pink apron Eren had gotten her for Christmas as a joke a few years back. Her warm auburn hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, fit with a multitude of flyaways; she had flour on her forehead and cheekbones and was mixing a rich, dark brown batter as Josh Groban's _Noel_ softly filled the room. Eren grinned at her when she looked up at him.

" Eren!" She exclaimed and went to hug her son but thought better of it as she realized how dirty she was. "What are you doing today? Any exciting plans? Do you want to bake with me—your adorable and incredibly skilled mother?"

Eren leaned down and planted a kiss on her temple, wiping off some of the flour in the process, "I'm going to pick up Levi, I figured its time you met him."

"Oh! I get to meet Levi today? It's about time, for months now all I've heard was 'Levi this' and 'Levi that' and I still don't have a face to give that name," she scolded good-naturedly, but then a panicked look overcame her face, " I have to clean up and shower, why didn't you tell me sooner, he's going to think I'm a mess!"

She started mixing the batter faster and walked over to the counter and hurriedly poured the batter into a deep stoneware dish and popped it in the oven. She frantically began to clean up the dishes and trash that laid all over the room.

"Mom! Mom!" Eren chuckled at her antics and tried to stop her attempts to clean up, "You don't have to clean, just keep on baking, maybe we can join you later, besides he'll like you no matter what," he assured her.

"Are you sure?" Carla asked.

"Yes mom, its fine," he nodded. Eren walked over to the closet under the staircase and grabbed his high tops; he hopped on one leg over to the front door as he tried to put the sneakers on as he travelled across the room. Carla giggled behind him as she watched him go.

"I'll be right back!" he called over his shoulder as he made is way out the door, closing it behind him. Eren jogged over to his car, climbed in, and began his drive to Levi's house.

Eren had never been inside of Levi's house, he'd dropped Levi off there and picked him up from there but he'd never been given the opportunity to go inside. He assumed Levi was nervous for him to meet Isabel and Farlan, or maybe the other way around—either way Levi always came up with some excuse to keep them from meeting each other. And that was fine with Eren, he didn't want to push Levi into anything he wasn't comfortable with; Levi would introduce Eren when he was ready to.

Levi's town house came into view; it was a small, simple design in the back of a neighborhood called The Woods, the paneling was a neutral color with a dark roof, the only thing that made the house stand out was the mosaic door Isabel had made; it was a mix of red, and brown tiles cut into different geometric shapes. They had a red brick path leading up to the front door from the driveway and a bed of white daisies right in front of the tiny porch.

Eren pulled up next to the curb in front of the Church household and texted Levi a quick 'here'. He could see Levi through the storm door within seconds, he was waving goodbye as he shut the mosaic door behind him and made his way down the brick path towards Eren's car. He was wearing tight black jeans, roughed-up combat boots, a thick oversized black sweatshirt, and had a red knit scarf wrapped around his neck—oddly reminiscent of the other raven-haired Ackerman. Eren smiled at Levi as he opened the car door and Levi buried his face into the scarf to hide his own smile.

"It is cold as fuck out there," Levi complained as he plopped down into the passenger seat and held his hands over the vents, trying to warm them up.

"You were outside for like five seconds," Eren retorted.

"Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit, you don't get to judge how cold I am," Levi glared at the brunette, "I hate the cold."

Eren laughed at Levi's angry expression; despite having the same face, Levi's glare was cute in comparison to that of his past-self. It reminded Eren of an angry chipmunk with its tail all fluffed up and trying to make it look bigger than it really was. "You hate the heat too."

"Extreme temperatures are annoying," Levi huffed and turned to look out the window, crossing his arms over him chest.

Eren put the car into drive and carefully maneuvered his way out of the neighborhood—careful not to hit any mailboxes—which he'd only done once and it was his own the first time he tried to park in the driveway.

"My mom is really excited to meet you," Eren told Levi, "she was so angry with me for not giving her enough time to prepare for you to come over. She's been baking all day so I'm warning now right now—the kitchen is a disaster; please don't hold it against my mom it will literally break her heart."

Levi snorted and shook his head, "I'll forgive her if she makes me those chocolate chip brownies you had at lunch a few weeks ago."

Carla's the type of mom that will pack their child peanut butter and jelly shaped like a heart with a love note and a baked good everyday—even if they're a senior in high school. So when she found out that Eren was eating lunch with Levi during his break period instead of spending the hour in the library to study, she began packing twice as much food. And while Levi was grateful for everything she packed him, her chocolate chip brownies had the biggest impression. In fact: Levi loved them so much that he left Carla a very detailed thank you note, at the end of her love letter to Eren of the day.

Eren chuckled at the memory, "I'm sure she would be happy to if you asked."

Eren pulled up into his driveway carefully, and locked the doors before Levi could get out. Levi turned to him with his eyebrow raised waiting for an explanation.

"I'm apologizing for my mom in advance—I know she's going to be a bit much, but she's just excited. I haven't brought anyone home since sixth grade, I promise once the novelty wears off she will be better," Eren said.

"You seem to forget that I used to have to deal a mad scientist with too much energy, who had a tendency to talk every ones ear off, every day for at least a decade," Levi retorted brushing off Eren's worries, "now let me out of your car so I can go meet your mother."

Eren smiled down at the raven, relieved, "Alright lets go."

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 **Well there you have it chapter two, I'll have the next one out as soon as possible, I'm having some writers bloke with my other two stories so if I'm still struggling this will be out sooner, but hopefully I can get he other two back and rolling.**

 **Anyway thanks for reading!**

 **~mollie**


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